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Kostoľany pod Tribečom

St George’s Church in Kostoľany pod Tribečom forms an important representative of Central European pre-Romanesque art. The wall paintings in the interior belong not only to the eldest and best preserved in the Slovak Republic, but in the whole of Central Europe.

AD 1050 – Modern Era

Development of the site

The stone church with rectangular presbytery and nave, as well as unique wall paintings in its interior 37 is associated with the period around 1000, more specifically the first decades of the 11th century.38

In the first half of the 13th century the church was renovated, prolonged by an annex with walled gallery for the nobility and a tower. Fig. 23Fig. 24Fig. 25Fig. 26Fig. 28 This rebuilding seems to have preserved the wall paintings in the nave, while those in the presbytery were painted over with new ones. From the late-Romanesque interior of the church a small chamber within the southern wall of the annex with a gallery and possibly a stone baptismal font survives. Fig. 27 The original late Romanesque church tower was preserved only to the height of the second and partially third floor.

Fig. 27: Small holy water font in the southern wall of the annex of St George Church from the first half of the 13th century. Credit: Jan Gloc – Martin Frouz

Fig. 28: Late Romanesque portal in the southern facade of the gallery annex from the first half of the 13th century. Credit: Peter Baxa

In the following centuries, St George’s Church underwent further reconstructions caused by technical problems of the building as well its new functions and changes in the liturgical regulations. Evidence of modifications from the 14th–15th centuries are: a cast mortar floor and probably a pastophorium in the northern wall of the presbytery, where liturgical equipment was stored. Archaeological investigations in St George revealed a number of graves of unknown parishioners.

The unsatisfactory state of the building made further reconstructions necessary in the 17th century. It was plastered, the interior was equipped with new wall paintings and the facade revived with white and red sgraffito decoration. Most likely in the course of this reconstruction a new pulpit was erected as well. Fig. 29 Possibly at that time the original gallery was enlarged by two wooden wings and rebuilt into an organ gallery, which was mentioned for the first time in 1713.

Fig. 29: Renaissance pulpit in the St George Church from the 17th century. Credit: Peter Baxa

In 1721, another reconstruction of the church took place. The roof was renewed; the wooden ceiling was replaced by a plastered one with stucco decoration, the floor was tiled with bricks and the church painted anew. Over the course of this reconstruction the Romanesque window openings were repaired, as well as the tower, which was heightened and provided with new windows Fig. 30. It is roughly in this state that the church was preserved until the 1950s.39Fig. 31

Fig. 30: St George Church in 1911. Credit: J. Ernyey, archive of the Ethnographic Museum in Budapest

Fig. 31: Interior of the gallery annex of St George Church from the first half of the 13th century, taken in 1958. Credit: The Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic

Around St George’s Church a cemetery arose. All burials in its immediate proximity stem from the period after the construction of the pre-Romanesque walled parts. In some cases the graves contained objects that date the beginnings of burials to around AD 1000. Until the 13th century, these graves were usually marked on the surface by raw stone slabs.40

At the beginning, the cemetery occupied only a small area surrounding the church. By the end of the 18th century, it grew to its current extent. The church and cemetery were accessed by a road leading eastwards from the current municipality.41

Partners

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This website reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

The project is co-funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.